Agenda item

This report analyses performance by reference to the service plan, the budget, and the performance indicators for all of the services funded through the Leisure and Culture budget.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

• Note the performance of services within the directorate funded through the Leisure & Culture budget.
• Agree that a report be brought to this committee before any reduction in spending on book stock takes place.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To monitor and review performance in this portfolio area.

Members considered a report that analysed performance by reference to the service plan, the budget and the performance indicators for all of the services funded through the Leisure & Culture Budget.

Officers reported that there had been overspends for Libraries, Parks and Open Spaces and Sports and Active Leisure. In the case of Libraries and Parks and Open Spaces the service managers had proposed action that should bring the service budgets back into line by the end of the financial year. The scale of the problem within Sports and Active Leisure, and the nature of the service, means that the service itself would be unlikely to contain the projected overspend.

The service manager for the library service was reviewing fees charged for DVD and CD rental as well as fees charged for overdue items to try and help with some of the overspend. If this was not successful then cuts to spending on books may have to be made.

Officers stated that it was not unusual for some level of overspend to be present at this time within the financial year.

Members raised concerns about cutting the spending on book purchases and requested that a report be brought back to the committee before this happened (if necessary). It was noted that the library offered many more services than book loans and these were very popular.

Officers said that nationally, book borrowing was in decline but in York there was a slight increase in borrowing of non-fiction and under fives’ fiction. Borrowing of adult fiction was in decline and Members raised queries regarding what kind of fiction the library should be providing (i.e. the percentage of hardback or paperback books available). Members asked questions about the mix of people using the library and the Head of Libraries and Heritage agreed to e-mail the socio-economic spread of people using the libraries to Members for information.

Members discussed the overspend within Sports and Active Leisure and understood that there had been difficulties retaining customers at the Edmund Wilson fitness suite. This stemmed from the fact that it was a split site which entailed walking across the car park between the gymnasium and the swimming pool. It was noted that the fitness facility was still returning a profit but this was considerably less than originally projected. Members felt that better staff monitoring of the resources was needed e.g. use of the air conditioning when only a few customers were in the gym.

Members also discussed the donations for trees scheme. The service manager for Parks and Open Spaces confirmed that this was working well and said that he would e-mail Members with more detail.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

• Note the performance of services within the directorate funded through the Leisure & Culture budget.
• Agree that a report be brought to this committee before any reduction in spending on book stock takes place.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:             That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:                  To monitor and review performance in this portfolio area.